गन्धर्ववधः तक्षशिलापुष्कलावतनिवेशनं च

When he heard that Bharata, the commander, had arrived with Gārgya, Yudhājit, lord of the Kekayas, was overjoyed. He set out with a great host of people and marched swiftly against the gandharvas, who could take any form they pleased. Bharata and Yudhājit, joined with their swift-moving troops, their army and their followers, reached the city of the gandharvas. Hearing that Bharata had come, the mighty gandharvas gathered, eager for battle, and roared on every side. Then a tumultuous battle broke out that made the hair stand on end; it raged terribly for seven nights, and neither side could win. Rivers of blood flowed in every direction, with swords, spears and bows for their crocodiles, carrying along the bodies of men. The battle is told briefly but fiercely: seven nights of unbroken fighting, with no decision because the two sides were evenly matched. "Able to take any form" points to the gandharvas' powers of illusion, which made them hard to defeat. The river of blood is a metaphor in which swords, spears and bows are the crocodiles and men's bodies are carried along by the stream. Here for the first time Bharata fights as a commander himself; the poet shows that he is not only a brother devoted to dharma but a brave warrior. His uncle Yudhājit is his ally, but Bharata is the leader.

Then Bharata, Rāma's younger brother, grew angry and loosed on the gandharvas the most dreadful weapon of Death, called Saṃvarta. Bound by the noose of Death and torn apart by the Saṃvarta, thirty million of them were struck down in a moment by that great warrior. The dwellers in heaven do not remember so terrible a battle, in which such mighty beings perished in the blink of an eye. When they had all been slain, Bharata, son of Kaikeyī, founded two prosperous and excellent cities. Saṃvarta is a name for the dissolution at the end of an age; the weapon is Death itself, destroying worlds, which is why it is called the weapon of Death. What seven nights of fighting had not achieved, a single weapon achieved in a moment, such is the power of a divine weapon. "Bound by the noose of Death" means the gandharvas were left helpless, as if caught in death's snare. "The gods do not remember" is hyperbole: not even in the wars of gods and demons had such slaughter been seen. Bharata's anger too is worth noting: even gentle Bharata grows angry in battle and looses the weapon, for in a righteous war anger too is dharma. The thirty million, the number of Śailūṣa's sons that Gārgya had given in the previous sarga, were all killed, and none was left.

In the lovely land of the gandharvas, in the country of Gāndhāra, Bharata settled Takṣa in Takṣaśilā and Puṣkala in Puṣkalāvata. Both those fine cities were filled with heaps of wealth and jewels and adorned with woods, and they vied with each other in the abundance of their virtues. Both were most beautiful, with honest dealings, full of gardens and carriages, with well-laid-out markets; both were delightful and spacious, filled with splendid mansions and many palaces, adorned with beautiful, spacious temples, and graced with palmyra, tamāla, tilaka and bakula trees. The cities are described at length, with wealth, woods, fair trade, gardens, carriages, orderly markets, palaces, temples and trees, all the marks of an ideal city. The phrase about the two cities vying in virtue is charming: they compete with each other like two brothers. Takṣaśilā and Puṣkalāvata are the famous cities of the Gāndhāra country, named after the two princes. "Honest dealings" means fair trade without deceit. After war comes building, and that is the way of Rāma's rule: enemies are destroyed only so that the people may be protected.

Having settled those cities over five years, mighty Bharata, Rāghava's younger brother and Kaikeyī's son, came back to Ayodhyā. The illustrious Bharata saluted the great-souled Rāghava, who was like Dharma itself in a second body, as Vāsava salutes Brahmā, and told him exactly how the gandharvas had been slain and the country settled; and Rāghava was pleased with him. Five years shows how long the building took: the war was over in a moment, but the building took years. Bharata does not enjoy the kingdom himself; he gives it to his sons and comes back to Rāma, and what Rāma had said in the previous sarga, "he will come back to me", comes true. "Like Dharma in a second body": in Bharata's eyes Rāma is dharma embodied, and as Indra bows to the Grandsire, so Bharata bows to his elder brother. So Bharata's task is complete, and the next sarga tells of the kingdoms given to Lakṣmaṇa's sons.